Picking a Computer for Back to School

About this time a year, I get a lot of calls from friends and relatives buying PCs for their kids for school. This time, I'm noticing a new addition to the list as an alternative that some of the kids are pitching: the iPad. My general rule for parents is that they should buy what the child needs; if the child wants something unique and special, they should earn the difference because, in my experience, they will take much better care of any device they had to work for and these things aren't cheap.